I was happy to get out and get a 20 miler in today, despite the struggles that i’ve been having with my back this past week. The surprising part is that it actually feels better after the run (3 hours later) than it did all week. I always make the statement that the long run seems to clear up all physical issues i’m having .. because when my knee hurt, the long run cured it, when my leg hurt, the long run cured it. There are like 3 other cases in the past months where this has been the case .. its really weird.

So I headed out early (5:30am on a Saturday, yes i’m quite psychotic), with the expectation of rain and fairly mild temperatures, but it ended up being a little better than that. I decided to wear my shorts, a base layer and a short sleeve shirt over it and then my running rain jacket (with my running hat). The jacket made it for about a mile, then I took that off and realized that I couldn’t really strip off many more layers without really effecting the run, so I was stuck wearing what I had. It only rained off and on for the first hour or so, and then was fairly mild .. but the temperatures were unbelievable for October. It was upper 60’s and humid, it really felt like August all over again .. and I ended up quite dehydrated as well due to the temperatures. Thankfully I had my 30 oz bottle with me (which was filled twice) to keep me hydrated along the way.

I was able to tell that my body has already lost some of its endurance with the reduction in miles this past week, although it may have been that i was running at a much slower pace than normal. I averaged a 9:15/mile pace over the run and it did offer me hills and challenging terrain, so it certainly wasn’t an easy course, maybe that was it. Even now i’m not feeling too bad so I expect to push out another 12 miles tomorrow if I can (of course the way I feel in the mornings are a totally different story).

I got what will probably be my last pair of Mizuno Alchemys for a little bit as my current pair are starting to wear out. I’ll continue to use the old ones and start to mix in my new shoes over the next couple weeks and then finally make them my primary shoes for the last marathon of the season. I seem to find that it works pretty good that way (especially if I find myself in rain, it gives me a fresh pair.) I think that with 4 weeks to go in the training season, they’ll get me through until I start training again in December for the spring marathons (gosh, it won’t be long!)

I know several people online and locally running the Marine Corps Marathon tomorrow in Washington DC… I remember running that last year, I just wish it had come at a better time for me because I don’t think I enjoyed it as well as I should have. Anyway, the one good thing is that the Marine Corps Marathon results get posted fast, so I can find my friends soon after they finish.. Regardless, if you’re running MCM tomorrow, GOOD LUCK! It appears the weather might hold for you and it won’t be terribly cold in the morning (like last year, it was brutal!)..